"Upon My Rock"

Here is the first half of Jesus’ concluding statement of His doctrine from 3 Nephi 11:39: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.” If you want to be upon the Lord’s rock, you have to build upon His doctrine. What exactly is His rock? Matthew 16 contains critical information about it:

13 ¶When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Did you catch that? Did you see the similar language? The rock is not Peter. That would be idolatry. Peter is a man, after all, and the Nephites wouldn’t have had access to him. The rock must be constant and equally accessible by all of God’s children in every generation of time. Otherwise, God would be a changeable God.

The rock is revelation. It is the pure knowledge that comes from the Father, just like the knowledge that the Father gave to Peter. Not coincidentally, such revelation is promised earlier in 3 Nephi 11. Verse 35 promises that if you believe and follow the doctrine, the Father will bear record to you of Jesus through fire and the Holy Ghost. 2 Nephi 31:17 lets you know that it is the fire that actually causes the remission of sins. This is the rock that you must stand on.

"Become as a Little Child"

One component of the Doctrine of Christ is the instruction to become as a little child. 3 Nephi 11:37 says, "And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things." "These things" that require becoming as a little child are the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost and the testimony that it brings (3 Nephi 11:35-36). 

Many other scriptures confirm the need to become as a little child. Here is only one from Matthew 18:

 1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,

3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I have four little children, ranging in age from just a couple of weeks to 6 years. One only needs to observe little children to discover the attributes that Jesus is trying to help us develop. It is true that little children have their moments of difficulty, sometimes to the extreme. Is Jesus really including those moments when He asks us to become like little children? Jesus makes no exceptions in His doctrine and He is not a liar so He is indeed including those moments. 

There is a huge difference between a difficult child and a difficult adult. A little child will very soon return to an amiable condition and forget the entire ordeal. The adult will continue making things difficult for an extended period of time, or even a lifetime, and will remember well whatever it was that set him off. Jesus knows that we will have our difficult moments as we come unto Him. He expects us to overcome those difficult moments quickly, as a little child does.

If you can't let go of something that has made life difficult for you and you can't be legitimately friendly to those who may have been at fault, you might considering repenting and becoming as a little child to receive the things that Jesus offers, including the Holy Ghost. Turning to Christ enables you to receive His grace which gives you power to instantly forgive offenses that used to seem unforgivable. It will allow you to move on as little children always do.

Part 2 | Part 3